ZAN-der
Xander
Top 1000
About Xander
Xander is a diminutive of Alexander, the Latin variation of the Greek Alexandros. Its meaning, "defending men," is taken from the Greek roots aléxein, "to defend," and andros, "men." Zander, pronounced the same way, is an alternate spelling.
One of the newer short forms of Alexander, Xander is a spelling that first saw the spotlight via Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and then as Vin Diesel's character in XXX. Mad Men star January Jones named her son Xander Dane.
Even shorter forms Xan and Zan are now also being used on their own. Xan is a character in the P. D. James novel The Children of Men and is a favorite choice of computer game creators.
Pronounced ZAN-der.
As of October 2026, Xander ranked #259 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #164 in 2017, Nameberry popularity #226.
Editor's take: The name Xander is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "defending men".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #211 | 1,839 | 957.4 |
| 2015 | #206 | 1,932 | 1,008 |
| 2016 | #201 | 2,016 | 1,062.3 |
| 2017 | #164 | 2,413 | 1,303.7 |
| 2018 | #171 | 2,274 | 1,252.1 |
| 2019 | #169 | 2,335 | 1,301.4 |
| 2020 | #188 | 2,054 | 1,190 |
| 2021 | #187 | 2,016 | 1,152.3 |
| 2022 | #200 | 1,899 | 1,087.6 |
| 2023 | #215 | 1,711 | 1,000.2 |
| 2024 | #216 | 1,665 | 966.4 |
| 2025 | #259 | 1,335 | 781.6 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Xander.
Famous Xanders
- Xander Yan Bogaerts
Aruban baseball player
- Alexander Harper "Xander" Berkeley
American actor
- Alexander "Xander" Rawlins
English singer,songwriter
- Xander Corvus
American actor
- Xander Theodore Shanxi Kostroma
Welsh fashion designer
- Alexander "Xander" Angeles
Filipino fashion photographer
- Xander Parish
English ballet dancer
- Xander McGuire (b. 2004)
son of actor Eddie McGuire
- Xander Dane Jones (b. 2011)
son of actress January Jones
- Xander Maximilian Perks (b. 2016)
son of model Noelle Reno and Nick Perks
Xander in pop culture
- Jonathan Alexander (Xander) Emerson
main male character in Scarlett Avery’s book “Delectably British”.
- Alexander Lavelle "Xander" Harris
character on TV's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
- Xander Carrow
character in the Matched trilogy by Ally Condie
- Xander (pronounced "Alexander") Spence
character in "The Distance Between Us" by Kasie West
- Xander
character in the Pandora series by Carolyn Hennesy
- Xander Clavell
character in "The Sims 3" computer game
- Xander
character in the video game Fire Emblem: Fates
- Xander
character on TV's "Bunk'd"
- Xander Cage
main protagonist in "xXx" movies series
- Xander Hale
character in the Addicted Series
- Alexander "Xander" Hawthorne
character in bestselling Inheritance Games series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
- Xander
character in "A Rover's Story" by Jasmine Warga